A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quad­riplegic and in a wheel chair.

In an article, “Joni described how this powerful promise “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years” had encouraged and guided her through the toughest of times in her 45 years of quadriplegia. She described how she had shared this with a young women “Kim a brilliant 26-year-old Christian woman who was active in her church. But she contracted a motor-neuron disease and had to stay in bed. Kim was very depressed and wondering if life was worth living anymore.”

2 Peter 3:8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

We are familiar with the last part of this verse as we apply it to the future second coming of Jesus. In fact verse 9 following says: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” But I had never focused on the first part.

Let’s see how many minutes are in “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years”. With the Lord, an hour would be like 41.7 years. With the Lord, a minute would be like 254 days. This tells me every minute I spend is incredibly important to the Lord. His presence in constantly in my life and He knows how I spend every minute.

During her rehabilitation, Joni spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high-detail fine art paintings and prints are sought-after and collected. Joni has written over 50 books. She has received the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Joni and her husband, Ken Tada, have been married since 1982. Joni’s latest book is Joni & Ken An Untold Love Story.